The next morning, at the airport in Country D.A tall man in navy chinos and white dress s.h.i.+rt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows just walked out of the arrival gate with luggage in his hand. He looked so fresh and clean with his laid back casual look, women around him can"t help but take a second or even a third glance. He looked around until he spotted a hand waving to him, Daniel took off his sungla.s.ses and smiled.
"Lucas.", Daniel said in a friendly tone.
"Daniel, it"s been a really long time, my friend."
The two men exchanged brief hugs and taps.
"How have you been? Married already?"
Lucas laughed heartily, "Tsk Tsk Tsk... Women are afraid of me now. How can I find someone to marry me?"
Daniel chuckled, "You"ve got women around you all the time."
"Ahh... But they"re just after my money. Women like those, not worth it.", Lucas replied and shook his head. "Enough about me, let"s go, I"ll treat you to very fine cuisine. You"ll love it!"
The two men walked towards Lucas" car with bodyguards around them.
The restaurant is owned by Lucas, it is just one of the many businesses that he owns. In Country D, he"s known to be a business tyc.o.o.n by ordinary citizens. And in the underworld, Lucas is a ruthless leader who rules over the country. When Daniel learned that Samantha was in Country D, that"s when he asked Lucas" help.
They"ve been friends several years back when Lucas tried to run away from home and ended up in Country A. He wasn"t a boss of the underworld yet, during that time, it was still Lucas" dad who was the head of the organization. When his father didn"t approve of the girl that Lucas was dating at that time, he rebelled and ran away. Being in a foreign country with no connections and trying to avoid his father"s radar, Lucas ended up doing odd jobs for a few months. One time, he fell asleep at a subway station because of exhaustion. When he woke up, he found that all of his valuables were stolen. He was so furious but there was nothing he could do. Lucas met Daniel while he was asking pa.s.sersby a few dollars so that he could get home.
Daniel felt bad for him because he was being ignored. They talked and that"s when Daniel learned about his story. Daniel didn"t hesitate to give him a few hundred dollars and Lucas was very touched by the stranger who was willing to give him money without anything in return so he promised Daniel that he will pay him back even if it"s through other means. A few days later, Lucas mended things with his father and he was no longer living poorly. He stayed in Country A for a few more weeks before going back to Country D and during that time, he and Daniel became really good friends.
It"s been 6 years since they have last seen each other and Lucas was very glad to see his friend again. After eating a scrumptious meal, the two friends were enjoying their coffee. Lucas handed a wide tablet to Daniel and said, "Your woman is quite interesting… she seems to be very adventurous."
Daniel took the tablet but he waited for Lucas to continue.
"This was recorded just last night. Hooo! Man, I"m telling you… she"s very skilled. I had one of my men go on a race with her last night and boy did she not disappoint.", Lucas played a video and in the screen showed rows of racing cars and a rowdy crowd. A few seconds in the video, a lady waved a flag down and the 2 cars sped off to a distance. The video angle changed and now it was showing a black Bugatti driven by Samantha, her car was speeding off at an incredible speed almost leaving Lucas" man behind.
"d.a.m.n it. This girl!", a comment from the video was heard, it was Lucas" man who was racing with Samantha. The video was taken from inside his car with a few action cameras that were facing outside the car giving Daniel a clear view of Samantha"s driving.
Though he was very glad that Lucas was able to find Samantha, Daniel felt thrilled and enraged at the same time seeing Samantha drive at a very fast speed and she"s not even afraid! "You must have gone crazy, Samantha!"
The video finished showing Samantha winning the race.
"Where is she now?", Daniel suppressed his anger. The thing that he wants the most now is to see her.
"She"s currently at the heart of the city. Come, I"ll bring you there."
Lucas and Daniel along with some bodyguards got in a Range Rover and drove away. They arrived at a café beside a Skydiving center.
"Let"s wait here. This is the best seat for you to see the view.", said Lucas.
Daniel didn"t know what they were going to see, there were several people in the flat and s.p.a.cious ground before them. Lucas handed Daniel a pair of binoculars, "Here, you"re gonna need it."
He was puzzled but he received the binoculars. They waited for about 10 minutes until Lucas tapped Daniel in the shoulder and he pointed the sky with his other hand, "Look over there."
Daniel"s brows furrowed, using his binoculars, he looked into the lens and saw someone in a white jumpsuit and white full face helmet parachuting her way down to the ground. "You"ve got to be kidding me." He felt his hands have gotten cold, he gulped in antic.i.p.ation as his woman landed gracefully. He watched as she removed her helmet and flipped her hair like she was in a shampoo commercial.
"Samantha.", he whispered.
And as if Samantha had heard him, she turned her head towards Daniel"s direction casually just for a few seconds and Daniel"s heart throbbed like crazy. After which, a man helped Samantha collapse and gather her canopy for her; she unstrapped it from herself before she strutted towards the exit.
Samantha couldn"t really recognize anyone from the café as it wasn"t very near to where she landed.
"Looks like she"s done for today.", Lucas spoke.
Daniel turned his head and asked, "What?"
"That was her 5th jump today."
"F-fifth??", Daniel was very shocked. "Is this really Samantha?", he instantly turned his head to look at Samantha again but she has already gone inside the building.
"Yeah, apparently she skydives for fun a few times a week. And my men said five isn"t even her maximum number."
Upon hearing this, Daniel"s lip twitched. For someone like him who"s not really into any extreme jumping activities, he doesn"t understand the thrill that one experiences during the jump. He was only able to try bungee jumping once in Country A and that was already a one of a kind experience for him.
Not long after, Samantha walked out of the building with Kai on her side.
"Who"s that?"
"His name is Kai, he"s a local here and a professional skydiver... according to my men, he seems to be courting...*ahem* your woman."
Daniel"s expression turned dark upon listening to Lucas" explanation.
Samantha laughed at Kai"s joke before she waved goodbye and walked towards her car.
Daniel obviously felt crabby when he saw Samantha laughing with Kai. "Tch. Having fun, are you?"
Samantha drove away while Daniel and Lucas followed her from a distance. Daniel decided to observe her first before showing up in front of her. He wanted to see how she was living while she was away from him.
"That"s strange."
"What?"
"Her house isn"t going this way. Where could she be heading?"
"Let"s follow her for now.", Daniel said in a calm manner.
Samantha drove towards outside of the city and headed to the cliff that they went to yesterday. She didn"t plan on going alone today but after the skydives that she did, her heart was still feeling heavy. It was getting unbearable each day and skydiving wasn"t of much help to her anymore; the rush was no longer as exciting as before. When she arrived, she walked towards the cliff and took off her s.h.i.+rt. Wearing only a sports bra and shorts, she moved closer to the edge. "Just 1 jump. Just let me feel it with 1 jump."
Inside the Range Rover,
Daniel froze at the sight 30 meters from them, "What the f*ck are you doing, Samantha?"
He started to move towards the cliff, afraid that Samantha would really jump.
"Sh-she"s not going to jump, is she?", Lucas muttered.
As soon as Lucas said those words, Samantha jumped off the cliff and Daniel"s eyes widened in surprise; he was too late.
He dashed forward and tried to look for a way down but as he got closer to the other side of the cliff, he saw that Samantha was already walking towards the sh.o.r.e.
He composed himself and waited for her to come back up. He was so ready to give her a scolding for what she just did.
But when she appeared several meters from him, he ended up hiding from a big rock just beside where Samantha parked her car.
Samantha took out her phone and pressed the audio recording, "Mia... guess what? I jumped off a cliff again just now...", she chuckled but then the second, she started to sob. "But... why am... I still hurting?"
Daniel"s heart shattered upon hearing Samantha"s cry. "d.a.m.n it."